


It Happened One Summer

by afteriwake



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Bonfires, Broken Engagement, Choices, Declarations Of Love, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Late Night Conversations, Mutual Pining, POV Molly, POV Molly Hooper, Pining Molly, Pining Sherlock, Sherlock Being Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes & Molly Hooper Friendship, Sherlock Holmes and Feelings, Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper Fluff, Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper Kissing, Sneaking Out, Summer, Summer Camp, Summer Love, Summer Romance, University Student Molly, University Student Sherlock, Young Love, Young Molly, camp counselors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-10
Updated: 2016-03-10
Packaged: 2018-05-25 23:40:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6214816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After her engagement ends and Molly becomes a bit depressed, one of her professors recommends she spend the summer working as a a camp counselor at Pali Adventures, a sleepaway camp in the Pacific Palisades. She’s hoping for a summer that changes her outlook on the world, but she doesn’t expect a summer that changes her whole life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Happened One Summer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [goddess1903](https://archiveofourown.org/users/goddess1903/gifts).



> So I had initially looked at this prompt from **goddess1903** (" _Sherlock and Molly at summer camp. Either as campers or counselors._ ") and thought I'd write a quick little one shot of them as teenage campers for Day 5 of Sherlolly Appreciation Week, but then I ran across the website for [Pali Adventures Summer Camp](http://paliadventures.com/) and saw it was founded in 1990 and they got the overnight camp in 1999 and was all "OMG, they need to be counselors there." So...here's another multipart fic. Sorry not sorry!

Molly arrived at the camp and looked around. She was nervous but quite excited. This was an opportunity of a lifetime, she realized. She’d never gotten the chance to go to a summer sleepaway camp before; her father had been too ill when she was young, and all the money and resources her family had had needed to be spent towards his care. So being able to be a counselor at such a camp, and especially at one like Pali Adventure, was simply extraordinary. Her professor at Oxford had suggested it to her as a way to earn a little extra money for the next term and get away from the city for a bit. The last term had been a bit…rough, for lack of a better term, and a break was much needed. She hadn’t expected to get the position, but it had been a welcome job offer, and the chance to spend a few weeks in the Pacific Palisades was quite lovely.

“Are you Molly Hooper?” a woman asked, coming up to her. She had long blonder hair in a ponytail, and she had on khaki shorts and an olive green tank top, and there were mirrored aviator sunglasses on her face. Molly nodded and the woman he flipped them up, giving her a smile and extending her hand. “Tabitha Newman. Glad you got here safe and sound. Any chance Sherlock’s with you?”

“Sherlock?” she asked, looking confused.

“Our other British counselor,” she said. “I’d just hoped the two of you caught the same flight. He’s one of our returning counselors and I was hoping he’d be here to show the newbies the ropes.”

She shook her head. “No, but I ended up changing my flight because I flew out of London nonstop as my friends pitched in to get me a better ticket without layovers,” she said.

“Ah, yes. He mentioned something about having to stop in Boston,” she said. “Well, then I’ll just show you around then. You’re one of the first ones here, actually. I’m kind of surprised since you’re coming from so far away. How long was your flight?”

“Nearly eleven hours, not counting the drive from Oxford to London,” Molly said with a smile.

“I’m still impressed that you’re a pre-med student at Oxford,” Tabitha said. “That was what sold us to have you be one of the counselors. You had many skills, but the fact is, you’re also someone we thought that the girls in the Girl Power morning specialty could really look up to.” They began to head towards some buildings. “We just got the property in 1999, so this is only our second year here. I know most of you in the UK take something called a gap year between when you graduate what we’d consider high school and then go into college, right?” Molly nodded. “So this last year would have been your…third year in university?”

“Yes,” she said. “I should have my undergraduate degree next year, and then I can enroll in medical school.”

“You must be so excited,” Tabitha said.

“I am,” Molly said, giving her a small smile. “I could have stayed over the summer and done additional coursework, which at Oxford is encouraged, and perhaps gotten an even more impressive academic record, but one of my professors recommended this. His daughter attended your day camp a few years back and has come every year until three years back. Melinda Jesseman?” 

“Oh, Melinda was a dear,” Tabitha said, her smile widening. She took a different specialty every year.

“She’s an absolute delight,” Molly said, her smile becoming warmer. “She’s actually decided to focus on the culinary arts and hopes to open her own restaurant because of her time here. Her father is quite pleased with her choice. In fact, she cooked a very delicious French meal for my going away dinner. Coq au vin paired with poached leeks with capers and mustard vinaigrette, and there was tarte tatin for dessert. I’ve heard the main dish and the dessert are quite complicated to make well and she pulled them off beautifully.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful to hear,” Tabitha said. “We should ask her to give a testimonial.

“I don’t think she’d mind in the slightest,” Molly said with a soft laugh.

Tabitha gestured to the building they were next to. “Well, this will be where you’ll be staying. You’re the only counselor here for now, so you get your pick of beds. Put your things away and then I’ll meet you in thirty minutes or so and give you the grand tour, all right?”

Molly nodded. “All right.” Tabitha walked away and Molly went inside. It was a rather nice place, and she picked a bed away from the window so that the sun wouldn’t be right on her face first thing in the morning. She wheeled her suitcase to the bed after setting her carry-on on the bed and looked at her things. She had off-campus housing in Oxford that she had paid for through to the summer since she was going to be there longer than the campers would be, and her professor was going to check on it periodically to make sure everything was fine for her. She hoped it would be, that nothing…untoward…happened to her things.

She glanced down at her ring finger. She was still getting used to not wearing the ring anymore, even though it had been nearly four months now since the engagement had been called off. She knew it was for the best, that if she had gone through with the wedding she would be miserable, that her heart would have been broken. But there were times that she hated being alone again so very very much. 

But now was not the time to dwell on that. Now was the time to focus on this wonderful opportunity in front of her and to look at the fresh start it afforded her. It was the summer, and that gave her the chance to spend the time out in nature, out under the sun and among the trees and flowers and out on the water, among new people and to hopefully make new friends and influence the next generation. And who knew? Maybe even have a summer fling as well.

Lord knew she could use one.


End file.
